


The Comfort Job

by cap_and_cyborg



Category: Leverage
Genre: Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cap_and_cyborg/pseuds/cap_and_cyborg
Summary: After a con gone sideways reminds Eliot of his dark past, Parker and Hardison take it upon themselves to show him exactly why they love him.  How do they do so?  A PowerPoint presentation of course!
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 42
Kudos: 158





	The Comfort Job

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Leverage fic! Huge thanks to Em for looking it over for me. Hope you all enjoy it!

Eliot had been angrily working away in the kitchen since they had gotten home. The fact that he was still in the back of the brewpub, instead of retreating back to his own apartment, was a good sign. But the relentless banging from the other room made Parker and Hardison exchange a worried look.

Their latest plan had very nearly ended in a disaster. It wasn’t anything they could have planned for, but there was still a tightness around Parker’s eyes Hardison didn’t like. How could they have known that their mark had offended the local mob so much they wanted to wipe him and his home out? That they had planted a bomb on the premises to destroy everything? Hardison was just glad that he had seen an odd looking delivery man coming and going on the security cams and had investigated.

Parker got the mark out. Hardison saved all the data from the mark’s computer. And Eliot… Eliot arrived just in time to save the mark’s twin daughters. They hadn’t gotten out unscathed though, Eliot and the twins bearing bruises and cuts from the debris. Parker and Hardison had found him unconscious and shielding the girls with his own body. It hadn’t been easy to see, but everyone got out, everyone was alive, and the con had been an overall success.

Which is why Hardison and Parker were worried about Eliot. Why was he so upset?

Parker nudged Hardison towards the kitchen.

“C’mon, Mama, why me?” he whined.

“I know we both love Eliot, but you’re more in touch with feelings and stuff,” she said, giving him another push. “And you’re less likely to say the wrong thing.”

“Riiiiiiiight,” Hardison said. He got the feeling that any conversation with Eliot right now would feel like walking through a minefield.

He was saved by Eliot saying, “Food’s ready,” from the other room. It was more of a bark than a sentence, but at least he was speaking.

They started eating in silence. Parker took two bites and dropped her fork onto her plate. She did something under the table that pushed Eliot’s chair away and then did a mesmerizing display of acrobatics that ended with her in his lap, her arms around him, her face smooshed into his neck.

For a second, both Eliot and Hardison froze at this sudden action. Hardison was scared this was too much for Eliot right now. Parker hadn’t asked, what if this wasn’t what Eliot needed?

Then Eliot let out an exhale that sounded almost painful and his arms closed tightly around Parker’s waist.

Hardison hurried out of his chair and around the table, approaching Eliot from the side and putting his arms around both of them. One of Eliot’s arms disengaged from Parker to come around Hardison, pulling him even closer than before.

Hardison wasn’t sure how long they sat there, but his knees were past the point of painful until they were just numb. 

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked, breaking the silence.

Eliot sighed, shifting in his seat and loosening up the embrace. “Bad memories.”

Parker pushed off Eliot’s lap to sit on the table. Hardison sat back on his heels, but kept a hand on Eliot’s knee. The food lay forgotten.

“We’re still going to love you no matter what you did,” Parker said suddenly. “I know you told me never to ask, so I’m not going to, but if you wanted to tell us… We’re still going to be here afterward.”

Eliot’s hands clenched over and over and he didn’t make eye contact with either of them. “When I, uh, when I worked for Moreau, he liked to send messages like those mob guys. He, well, he made a point to, to,” his lip curled, “wipe out the whole family. Like today. Only, um.” 

He took a breath and let it out in a gust. “I was the delivery man,” he whispered. “I didn’t know. There were three. Moreau told me after. So I got out.”

Parker and Hardison made brief eye contact, devastation in both their faces, before they turned back to their boyfriend.

“What do you need right now?” Hardison asked.

Eliot still wasn’t looking at them, but his eyes fell on the food on the table. His mouth twisted. “Order some food. This shit ain’t edible.”

Parker nodded and cleared the table immediately. Hardison patted Eliot’s thigh before he rose — _oh sweet Jesus his poor knees_ — and pulled out his phone. 

“I’m gonna shower,” Eliot muttered.

“Want company?” Hardison asked.

Eliot hesitated, then nodded.

“Alright. Parker, we’re gonna shower. Amy’ll bring food soon,” Hardison called into the kitchen.

No matter how many times it happened, Hardison always felt a little awed when his partners trusted him to see them naked. Eliot stripped without ceremony and Hardison followed suit, stepping into the shower right behind him.

He took over, washing Eliot’s hair with the fancy shampoo Eliot would never admit he favors. Hardison massaged Eliot’s scalp and Eliot’s eyes closed. Hardison detached the showerhead and rinsed out his hair, kissing Eliot’s temple once it was free of soap. Once he smoothed the conditioner into Eliot’s hair, Hardison reverently started cleaning Eliot with a soft washcloth. He was careful when he encountered bruises and scrapes from the day, but made sure they were clean. After one final rinse, he did the quickest version of a shower for himself and then helped Eliot out onto the bath mat.

Eliot’s eyes were still closed as Hardison toweled him dry, but there was a crease between his eyes that wasn’t there before.

“You good?” Hardison asked, ignoring how dumb a question it was.

Eliot’s shoulders twitched. 

“Can I help at all?” he continued.

Eliot shook his head. 

“Alright. Lemme know if that changes,” Hardison said, wrapping the towel he had been using around Eliot’s waist and tucking in the corner.

“Food’s here!” Parker called.

“Alright, Mama, be out in a minute,” Hardison replied. “Just gotta get some clothes on.”

“I mean, you don’t _have_ to,” Parker said, poking her head around the door and looking at the two of them.

Hardison laughed and threw the towel he had been using to dry himself at her. She caught it with ease.

“Okay, okay, I’m just saying…” she said, going back towards the smell of food.

Laughing, Hardison turned to Eliot and grinned. “Our girl, man.”

Usually, he would get a smile, maybe even a laugh out of Eliot when he said that. Now, he just grunted as he put his clothes on. Hardison sobered a bit and did the same.

He was pulling his shirt over his head when he heard, “I dunno what I did to deserve you two.”

He froze for a moment, face covered so he let his incredulity show, before he schooled himself and finished getting dressed.

“I guess I’ll have to show you sometime,” he said nonchalantly, then led Eliot out to the other room, where Parker was waiting with food and Die Hard ready on the projector.

It came off as him teasing, but it was entirely true. He just needed a few days, two tops, before he could show this man just why Hardison and Parker love him so much.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hardison brought Parker in with his plan and she grinned hugely before asking, “What do you need?”

Two days later, Parker called a meeting as if they were going to start another job. Eliot sat quietly on the couch and Parker settled just far enough away that she wasn’t touching him, but was still close. Hardison stood in front of the projector and took a deep breath, looking at Parker for support.

She nodded to him, determination in every bit of her stance. “Run it.”

“Alright,” he said, then cleared his throat cause his voice had broken. “This week, we got a real hard case.” He pushed the projector and suddenly, Eliot’s face filled the whole screen. Dammit, Parker, he said no hearts around the picture. They were trying to be _subtle ._

Eliot choked on the couch, freezing as he stared at the screen.

Hardison pushed on regardless. “Now, Eliot Spencer, he’s a really hard case to crack. Luckily, we have a master thief and a genius hacker on the case. Our job is to show Eliot what exactly he has done to, and I quote, “deserve us,”” Hardison said, making quotations with his hands which were suddenly ten times sweatier than before.

Eliot hadn’t moved on the couch, only his eyes darting from the screen to Hardison to Parker to the nearest exit and back again.

“A while back, we were working to break a mark in a hospital with Nate’s mind fuckery techniques. Eliot saw a little boy with a broken arm and he went to talk to him even as the cops showed up. Later, he got a U.S. Marshall, a Mr. Robert Corville, to go and get Randy out of his dad’s abusive hands and some place safe. His new parents absolutely adore him. Randy is now in junior high school and is learning to play the guitar,” Hardison reported, changing over the screen to a picture of a grown up Randy, still curly haired but with a huge smile on his face that never would have been there before. “Mr. Corville, now retired, still goes and checks on Randy once a month and they grab a bite together. He provided the photo and they both say hi and thank you.”

Now even Eliot’s eyes weren’t moving, staring fixedly at the screen and Randy’s face. 

“While working on a mine job, Eliot connected with Cory. Cory’s dad had been killed in the mine explosion a few years before, but because the family needed money, Cory ended up working the mine himself. Eliot encouraged him to work the machines, going so far as to ask the new owner, Troy, to have him use the scoop. Cory is now one of the supervisors of the site and has taken quite a few of the newbies under his wing over the years. Though in an interview he did in the local newspaper last year, he said he isn’t sure he wants his son...” Hardison changed the picture to show Cory holding a little bundle in his arms, “Eric, to follow in his footsteps.”

He saw the moment that Eliot remembered that during that job, Eliot’s cover name had been Eric and realized that Cory had named his kid after _him._ He swallowed, gripping his thighs with tightly clenched hands.

Hardison glanced at Parker, who nodded at him again.

“Eliot was Santa for a con, and met an annoying kid who wouldn’t let him alone. He ended up giving the kid a toy called Rubbery Robby, much to the kid’s enjoyment. He is currently learning animation and the first project he has put online is an elastic, angry looking superhero.”

Eliot’s eyes widened and his hands seemed to unclench in surprise.

“Danny’s dad was about to lose his life from taking too many hits during hockey games before Danny came to us for help. With Eliot’s help, Craig became the new coach of the Otters and is now in the best health possible for someone with so many issues. Danny is going through graduate school to become a physical therapist and will graduate in a year. He still helps his dad with the team when he visits home,” Hardison said, continuing with his presentation and pictures.

He checked in with Eliot again. He looked overwhelmed, but less rigid, so Hardison decided to start wrapping things up.

“And finally, we have the kid that Eliot saved from Russian gangsters even though he had a wicked concussion and needed to bring himself to the damn hospital. He now goes by Matthew and finally likes what he sees in the mirror now that he has started transitioning. He works at the local archery range and has become quite a sharpshooter and has a huge Youtube following for his trick shots. In one particular video, he switched up from his bow and arrow to darts and performed a seriously spectacular stunt.” Hardison pulled up the video of Matthew throwing a dart and somehow popping five balloons with it before turning to the camera and saying, “That one was for you, Perky,” with a huge grin on his face.

“Nice shot, Botasky,” Eliot murmured, a faint grin on his face in response to the one on the screen.

“And so concludes our briefing of “What Eliot Did to Deserve Love and Affection, Though Even Without Doing These Things He Would Have Anyways, But We Love Him More For It,” Hardison says, only to be met with a judgemental eyebrow from Eliot. “We’ll workshop it. It _is_ a bit long.”

“Eliot deserves a long title,” Parker said, cautiously edging closer to Eliot on the couch. “And the presentation could have been a lot longer, anyway.”

“Didn’t wanna overdo it, Mama,” Hardison said, unable to look away from his partners.

Parker brushed a hand over Eliot’s, which was now just resting on his leg. “You good?”

He nodded. “C’mere,” he said, pulling her into his side and kissing her cheek. Her mouth quirked and she tilted her head until their lips connected. It was sweet and soft and Hardison definitely wanted in on it, but he held back until they pulled away, their foreheads still touching for a moment before Eliot turned to Hardison. Eliot didn’t have to do anything other than hold out a hand and Hardison was on the other side of him, snuggled closely to his partners. 

“Thank you,” Eliot said softly before pulling Hardison in for an even softer kiss. Hardison let himself get lost in it until Eilot gently pulled away.

“Can… can I see it again?” Eliot asked Hardison’s chest, seeing as he wasn’t looking him in the eye.

“Course, man,” Hardison said easily, settling back into the couch and restarting the presentation from the beginning. While Eliot was transfixed on the older versions of the kids he had helped throughout the years, Parker and Hardison fist bumped behind his back.

Age of the geek, baby. Together, they had shown Eliot he was their world.


End file.
